Record readership numbers for TheLondonEconomic

Iconic Labs PLC

6 May 2020

 Iconic Labs Plc ("Iconic Labs" or the "Company")

Record readership numbers for TheLondonEconomic

Iconic Labs Plc (LSE:ICON) (the "Company"), a multi-divisional new media and technology business today announces record breaking readership figures for The London Economic.

Iconic Labs is pleased to provide the following update on the operational performance of TheLondonEconomic (TLE) following the entering into of a management contract between the Company and TLE on 14 April 2020.

The London Economic out performed expectations with an impressive 6 million page views after the daily content increased by 50 per cent.

Over the three initial weeks of the contract, substantial work has been done with the editorial team both to focus the editorial output and increase the number of articles. 

The number of page views has increased by a greater amount, with monthly page views now trending at just under 6 million page views, an increase of 100% from the rate before the management contract with the Company.

Topics covered by TLE which have achieved significant reach and impact include an article on how New Zealand successfully combated the Covid-19 epidemic and an explanation of how the UK Government's economic plan to support the economy actually risked causing a death spiral due to flaws in its design.  The latter formed part of a series of articles on flaws in support for SMEs during the crisis and received very positive reviews and commentary.  It is also interesting to note that many of the changes advocated by TLE have subsequently been seen in revised government policy.

TLE has also brought on board several well-known writers and commentators, such as Gavin Esler, and expects the pull of these writers to further increase the reach of its content.

TLE's branding and visual style has been comprehensively overhauled with a very positive reaction and the new branding has been deployed throughout the website and social media pages.  An SEO analysis has been commissioned and is underway, with a planned further reconfiguration of the website to incorporate improvements from this review to take place next month.

The Facebook page has been relaunched as has the previously dormant Instagram page, both of which are showing increases in followers and reach.  The Company has also negotiated distribution through third party pages with complementary audiences and as these come into operation over the next month the Company expects to see a substantial increase in social media reach.

Liam Harrington, Chief Business Officer of Iconic Labs, said: "The level of interest in TLE has proved to be even better than we expected, but there is clearly substantial further demand and appetite for the content that we can unlock.  We always viewed TLE as a publication with tremendous potential that we could maximise by bringing our skills and experience to bear.  The first stage of that work has now taken place and we are very pleased with the results, but even more excited by the potential that we can see in the data as to where we can take TLE from here."

John Quinlan, Chief Executive Officer of Iconic Labs, said: "We aim to build a business model within Iconic Labs whereby we have a playbook that can be applied to any acquisition of publisher assets or businesses.  While we always take careful note of individual differences among publishers, our experience has been that there are common threads and challenges to which we have developed successful approaches.

The success of the initial work at TLE validates that approach, and we look forward to further growth of the publication as we bring our full suite of data analytics to bear on TLE's various channels."

Jack Peat, editor of TheLondonEconomic, said: "The progress that has been achieved since entering into the management contract with Iconic Labs has completely exceeded our expectations.  They have worked with us to enable the continued production of content that we believe is important, and which is the key to our core readers, while opening up the publication to a wider audience.  The feedback has been superb and the proof that it is working is there in the page view numbers, which are way ahead of our most optimistic estimate for three weeks in.  We cannot wait to crack on and see what further growth can be unlocked by Iconic's data analytics."

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.  Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit the Company's website www.iconiclabs.co.uk or contact:

  Iconic Labs           [email protected]

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